United Arab Emirates

Getting Electricity in

United Arab Emirates

Listed below are the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain an electricity connection for a newly constructed building.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Name of Utility: Dubai Electricity And Water Authority (DEWA)
  • City: Dubai

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Electrical consultant/ contractor applies for electricity supply and awaits estimate of connection fees from Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)

The customer is required to have their electrical works executed through an electrical contracting company. The trade license for carrying out electrical works in Dubai is issued to companies by the Department of Economic Development, Government of Dubai. The electrical contracting company would have electrical engineers and other technical staff working under their sponsorship. A private individual/engineer cannot obtain such trade license as a consultant company or contracting company or execute such works in Dubai. The consultant and contracting companies are to be enrolled with DEWA as per above criteria to be able to access the on-line services.
The consultant is then given an account so they can apply online for and obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from DEWA, which is a step necessary to obtain the building permit.
After the electrical consultant or contractor has obtained the NOC from DEWA, they will need to submit their electrical designs online for approval from DEWA. Based on whether the NOC determines the need for a substation, some additional approvals might be needed, such as for the substation location, size, and layout. For projects requiring a substation to be built within the plot, a consulting company will carry out the design works and obtain DEWA approval (Design approval) and further shop drawing approvals by the electrical contractor. For projects that do not require a substation, the electrical contracting company can directly prepare Shop Drawings and obtain approval.
Given that no substation is required in the assumed area, no additional approvals are recorded. The remaining approvals concern the wiring of the internal building and at the point of connection with DEWA’s network, and as such are not recorded as separate procedures (it is assumed the electrician in charge of the internal wiring has already obtained these approvals).
A list of approvals can be found at https://e-services.dewa.gov.ae/faq.aspx#4. Forms can be downloaded at http://www.dewa.gov.ae/forms/formslisting.asp.
The approvals do not delay the process because they are obtained as part of the completion certificate.
Once the electrical designs have been approved, the electrical consultant or contractor submits an online application for supply. DEWA then inspects the site to conduct a technical study of the site and prepare an estimate of the connection fees.


Agency: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) 		14 calendar days no charge
* 2 Obtain external inspection from Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)



Agency: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) 		1 calendar day no charge
3 Customer pays connection fees and obtains external works from Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s contractor

Processing for CAR permission from the concerned authorities are made immediately (by DEWA) after preparation of estimate and without waiting for payment. The time required for obtaing the permission from other authorities is up to two weeks.

For capacities above 400 kW, a substation is required. For smaller loads, the connection could be by simple hook-up or a substation would be needed depending on the exact location of the warehouse. In an area such as the one assumed, the capacity would be usually available. If the distance to the nearest substation is not big (i.e., if it is around 150-200 m.), the external works consist of laying out an underground cable from the warehouse.

The external works are concluded by one of DEWA’s contractors. For 200 Amps, the cable needed would be a 185 mm2 Al, 150 m. long.

DEWA provides the meter and the cable, but charges only for the cable. The fee charged is equal to the cost for DEWA to lay out the cable (i.e. price of the cable and labor costs). The customer obtains and installs the rest of the material themselves (such as circuit breaker and meter cabinet).

The customer requires executing the electrical works through an Electrical Contracting Company. The Trade License for carrying out electrical works in Dubai is issued to companies by the Department of Economic Development, Govt of Dubai. The Electrical Contracting Company shall have electrical engineers and other technical staff working under their sponsorship. A private individual/engineer cannot obtain such Trade License as a Consultant Company or Contracting Company or execute such works in Dubai. The Consultant and Contracting companies are to be enrolled with DEWA as per the above criteria to approve access to the on-line E-services.

For projects that require a substation to be built within the plot (as per Building NOC), a Consultant Company shall carry out the design works and obtain DEWA approval (Design approval) and further shop drawing approval by the electrical contractor. For projects that do not requires a substation (such as in the case assumed here), the electrical contracting company can directly prepare the shop drawings and obtain approval.

All works starting from NOC, Drawing approval, application registration, and issue of estimate, payment and up to installation of DEWA cable can be done in parallel and hence, do not cause delays.


Agency: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) 		30 calendar days AED 29,920.0
4 Electrical contractor applies for an LV Inspection & Release of supply to Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and obtain meter installation and final connection

To request inspection of internal wiring, the electrical contractor has to apply online for an LV Inspection & Release of Supply (http://www.dewa.gov.ae/customerguide/service.aspx?serviceno=132), and can also track the status of their application online. The approval can be obtained only if the electrician has previously obtained approval of the LV Shop Drawing. The application is free of charge. After submitting the online application, the electrical contractor will be asked to submit hard copies of the drawings, a site plan, and the NOC to the utility.
Staff from DEWA then checks the internal wiring of the building (meter box, distribution board(s), etc.) to make sure it has been carried out according to the approved drawings. DEWA will install the meter and connect the warehouse to electricity upon successful inspection and submission by the contractor of all approvals and building completion certificate.
The time period for this step varies according to the competency of the contracting company. If the full electrical installation is in compliance with the regulations and approved drawings, then inspection and final supply can be carried out in few days. If a re-inspection is required or there is a delay in submision of the building completion certificate, then more time would be needed.

Agency: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) 		11 calendar days AED 2,181.9
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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